John Blanchard, M.D.

John A. Blanchard, M.D. is recognized as an expert and national leader in the “concierge medicine” movement. He speaks and lectures nationally, advocating the improvement of health care quality and service through a direct financial relationship between physicians and their patients. Dr. Blanchard is the co-founder and Past President of the Society for Innovative Medical Practice Design. He is board certified by the American Academy of Family Physicians in the specialty of Family Medicine. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians, the Michigan State Medical Society, and he also serves on the Legislative Committee of the Oakland County Medical Society. Dr. Blanchard has full staff privileges at William Beaumont Hospital, where he completed three years of postgraduate residency training and served as chief resident. He graduated with clinical honors from the Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1996, and he graduated with honors from Michigan State University, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physiology. Dr. Blanchard is a practicing “concierge” physician and managing partner of Premier Private Physicians, P.L.C. in Michigan. The practice currently has 3 physicians. Their primary goal is to re-establish the direct communication and interaction between patient and doctor, making the physicians more accessible to their patients. They have found that this method of practice dramatically improves the quality of health care and service they are capable of delivering to patients. Premier Private Physicians is regarded as one of the first concierge practices to open nationally.

Christopher Ewin, MD, FAAFP

President and CEO, 121DrConsulting

Past-President AAPP

Dr. Ewin is a board-certified family physician in Fort Worth, Texas. He founded One To One MD, a retainer fee practice, in 2003.

Dr. Ewin is past-president of AAPP. Founded in 2004, the American Academy of Private Physicians is an organization of Healthcare Providers promoting a direct financial relationship with their patients in order to restore the integrity of the patient-physician relationship.

Dr. Ewin advocates the passage of laws through Congress that allow primary care retainer fee practices to be qualified medical expenses in Health Savings Accounts. From a patient perspective, he encourages the insurance industry to develop integrated models that would allow retainer fees for primary care to be applied to patients’ deductibles and couple primary care with high deductible insurance plans for catastrophic care.

He received his undergraduate and medical degrees at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. He completed a pediatric internship at Tulane University, and a family practice residency at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. From 1990-2000, he was in private practice in Fort Worth. In 2000, he became medical director of PDX-NHIN (National Health Information Network), one of the largest pharmacy software development companies, serving over 11,000 retail pharmacy stores.

He and his wife, Kelly Ann, have 4 daughters and 3 grandchildren.

Dr. Thomas LaGrelius

Dr. LaGrelius is a board certified specialist in Family Medicine first certified in 1977 and in Geriatric Medicine first certified in 1990, he completed his most recent Family Medicine Recertification Board Exam in 2004 and Geriatric Re-Certification in 2000. He graduated from the University of Washington Medical School in Seattle and served his internship and residency at the University of Southern California Medical Center. He is a staff member at two Southern California hospitals, Torrance Memorial Medical Center, where he served for six terms as Chairman of the Department of Family Practice, and Little Company of Mary Hospital also in Torrance. Dr. LaGrelius is a member and Fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice, sits on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles County Medical Association and in the California Medical Association’s House of Delegates. He is president of Los Angeles County Medical Association’s Ninth District, is the immediate past president of South Bay Independent Physicians Medical Group Inc. (SBIP) and the founder and Chair Emeritus of the Independent Doctors Traditional Practice Association of the South Bay (INDOC). He is a Clinical Instructor of Family Medicine at the University Southern California School of Medicine and a Director on the Board of Consumers for Health Care Choices. He has been active in the struggle for consumer directed health care empowering patients for most of his career, writing and speaking frequently on that and related topics. He operates a retainer medical practice, Skypark Preferred Family Care, in Torrance, California. He is married, has two daughters and a son and lives in Redondo Beach.